ST8:USA300

ST8:USA300 is a strain of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that has emerged as a particularly antibiotic resistant epidemic that is responsible for rapidly progressive, fatal diseases including necrotizing pneumonia, severe sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis.
The epidemiology of infections caused by MRSA is rapidly changing: in the past 10 years, infections caused by this organism have emerged in the community. The two MRSA clones in the United States most closely associated with community outbreaks, USA400 and USA300, often contain Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes and, more frequently, have been associated with skin and soft tissue infections.
Outbreaks of community-associated -MRSA infections have been reported in correctional facilities, among athletic teams, among military recruits, in newborn nurseries, and among sexually active men who have sex with men, CA-MRSA infections now appear to be endemic in many urban regions and cause most MRSA infections.